World News - Poverty rate stable after years of worsening Last improvement was in 2000; number of uninsured increases

The nation’s poverty rate was essentially unchanged last year, the first year it hasn’t increased since before President Bush took office.The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 37 million Americans were living under the poverty line last year — about 12.6 percent of the population. That’s down from 12.7 percent in 2004, but census officials said the change was statistically insignificant.The median household income — the point at which half make more and half make less — was $46,300, a slight increase from 2004. However, the number of people without health insurance increased to 46.6 million in 2005. About 45.3 million people were without insurance the year before... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

A Malian man has died after he and 50 other would-be migrants were dumped by the Moroccan authorities in the Sahara. The group, including citizens of Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Guinea had been trying to reach Europe in small boats when they were intercepted. They were left in a desert border zone between Mauritania and Western Sahara without food or water, aid workers say. Over 18,000 African migrants have arrived on the Canary Islands in boats this year, hoping for jobs in the EU. "Neither the Moroccans nor the Mauritanians accept them on their territory," Ahmedou Ould Haye of the Mauritanian Red Crescent told Reuters news agency. Spanish relief agency Medicos del Mundo said its members had brought them food, water and plastic sheets with which to build shelters. Mauritania has reported finding the bodies of 16 migrants washed up on its beaches in recent days. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5294562.stm

A pipeline carrying oil byproducts exploded in southern Iraq today, killing 34 people and injuring another 45.Several people had been siphoning fuel from the pipeline when the explosion occurred in an industrial area south of Diwaniya, 80 miles (130 km) south of Baghdad, police said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but police lieutenant Raid Jabir said it had caused a huge fire that was hampering rescue efforts. Iraqi and international forces had cordoned off the area, six miles south of Diwaniya, he added.The pipeline was originally used to transport gas from the Shuaiba oil field in Basra to the Musayyab power station, but Saddam Hussein converted it in 2003 to carry petrol reserves for the army, Mr Jabir said. He said locals had punctured the pipeline to siphon off fuel after the fall of Saddam's regime....http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1860443,00.html

An undersea earthquake with a reported magnitude of up to 5.4 has struck south-eastern Indonesia. Initial reports suggested the magnitude was up to 6.4, prompting a tsunami warning, but this was later withdrawn. A meterological agency spokesman said the quake had hit south-west of the Moluccan island of Tual. There were no immediate reports of any casualties. Last month a 7.7-magnitude quake off the coast of Java triggered a tsunami that killed more than 650 people. The US Geological Survey said it had recorded a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in the region at 1338 GMT on Tuesday. The Indonesian meteorological agency spokesman initally told Reuters news agency the quake had a 6.4 magnitude, but the agency later downgraded this to 5.4. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5295250.stm

A woman in Rwanda has confessed to poisoning wedding guests by putting rat poison in a pot of local homemade beer. One person has died and 52 others, including the bride and groom, were admitted into hospital after the wedding celebrations on Friday night. Xavera Nyiranshongore said on Tuesday that she was promised 100,000 CFA ($190) to doctor the brew by the mother of the groom and another woman. Both women deny her allegations, which police say they are investigating. Sixty-year-old Ms Nyiranshongore, who was arrested on Friday, apologised for what she had done. She said she added the rat poison to the pot of ikigage, a local beer made from Sorghum, as it was being brewed on the outskirts of the capital, Kigali, before the festivities. ...http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42026000/jpg/_42026748_xavera203.jpg

The high school class of 2006 recorded the sharpest drop in SAT scores in 31 years, a decline that the exam's owner, the College Board, said was partly due to some students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of twice. Fatigue wasn't to blame, the College Board insisted, even though this year's class was the first to take a new version of the exam which added an essay. It now takes an average of three hours and 45 minutes to complete the test, not counting breaks, up from three hours previously. The results come several months after numerous colleges reported surprisingly low SAT scores for this year's incoming college freshmen. The nonprofit College Board, which had said scores would be down this year, released figures Tuesday showing combined critical reading and math skills fell seven points on average to 1021....http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/08/29/sat.scores.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us